Chandrakasan to lead MIT microsystems lab

AUSTIN, Texas  The Massachusetts Institue of Technology has named Anantha Chandrakasan as director of its Microsystems Technology Laboratories (MTL), effective Sept. 1. He succeeds Martin Schmidt, who served as lab's director for seven years.

Chandrakasan will manage MTL's research in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) sensors and actuators, VLSI circuits and devices used in a wide range of microsystems, including micro-gas turbine engines and X-ray lenses, MIT said Tuesday (Aug. 22).

Chandrakasan, a member of MIT's faculty since 1994, is currently serving as MTL's associate director. He is the chairman of the Technology Directions Committee of the 2007 International Solid State Circuits Conference.

Chandrakasan's research papers in low-power CMOS and self-actuated sensor networks are among the research community's most-cited papers over the past decade.

MIT Dean of Engineering Thomas Magnanti said in a statement that Chandrakasan has been a "pioneer" in the area of ultra-low-power ICs and systems design for application in fields ranging from sensor networks to ultrawideband radio.